The Boston Bruins’ overtime misfortune continues.
The Bruins showed tremendous resiliency Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, as they rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to even the score with two third-period goals. Boston couldn’t ride the momentum into sudden death, though, as Columbus ultimately notched a 4-3 victory via shootout.
The B’s have reached overtime on three occasions this season, but they’ve yet to grab a win.
With the loss, the Bruins fall to 4-3-3, while the Blue Jackets improve to 8-4-0.
Here’s how it all went down:
SLOW START
The Bruins came out rather sluggish, and that trend continued seemingly throughout the first period.
The Blue Jackets cracked the scoreboard just under two minutes into the game. After Frank Vatrano lost a faceoff in Boston’s zone, Columbus cycled the puck and ultimately found David Savard, who slapped the puck past Tuukka Rask for the first goal of the game.
While the B’s fell victim to finesse on Savard’s tally, the Black and Gold simply were outworked on Columbus’ second goal of the period. After a shot went wide of the Bruins’ net, Blue Jackets winger Boone Jenner fought off Paul Postma and eventually muscled the puck into the net.
Boston’s offense was non-existent in the opening 20 minutes. Columbus held an 11-4 advantage in shots and an alarming 7-0 advantage in scoring chances. Furthermore, the Jackets logged an impressive 10:11 in zone time, while Bruins only posted a 6:41 mark.
SECOND-PERIOD SPLIT
The second frame was kicked off with some fireworks.
Less than a minute into the period, Zdeno Chara tried to energize his club by dropping the gloves with Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson.
Boston picked up its play after the heavyweight bout, but that didn’t stop Columbus from extending its lead. Just over eight minutes into the period, Tyler Motte received a beautiful stretch pass from Markus Nutivaara and boosted the advantage to three.
The B’s were in danger of falling into an insurmountable deficit, but Patrice Bergeron made sure his team had something to show for the second period. Just over seven minutes after Motte’s tally, Bergeron beat Sergei Bobrovsky through the five-hole to put Boston on the board.
RALLY TIME
The Bruins weren’t going to go down without a fight.
Just over the halfway point of the third period, Torey Krug brought Boston within one when he slapped one past Bobrovsky during 4-on-4 play.
But the B’s weren’t done yet. Just over a minute after Krug’s snipe, Brad Marchand received a perfect dish from Bergeron and wristed home the game-tying goal.
KARMA
Oliver Bjorkstrand might be feeling pretty sore after the game, as the Blue Jackets winger was on the wrong end of a number of Kevan Miller punches late in the third period.
Bjorkstrand experienced a much sweeter moment later in the game, though. After a scoreless overtime period, Bjorkstrand netted the decisive shootout goal to give the Blue Jackets two points.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return home to TD Garden for a Thursday night showdown with the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Russell LaBounty/USA TODAY Sports Images
